RAISING HER VOICE Agency and Aspirations of Adolescent Girls on Marriage
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
RAISING HER VOICE Agency and Aspirations of Adolescent Girls on Marriage EVIDENCE FROM JHARKHAND, INDIA The International Center for Research for Women (ICRW) is a global research institute, with regional hubs in Washington D.C., United States; New Delhi, India; Kampala, Uganda; and Nairobi, Kenya. Established in 1976, ICRW conducts research to identify practical, actionable solutions to advance the economic and social status of women and girls around the world. ICRW Asia’s thematic focal areas include access to education and livelihoods, adolescent empowerment, gender-based violence, masculinities, gender inequitable attitudes, HIV prevention, and violence against women and girls. For more information, please visit www.icrw.org/asia Cover Image: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment Suggested Citation Achyut, Pranita; Khurana, Nalini V.; Reddy, Hanimi; Gautam, Abhishek & Verma, Ravi K. (2020). Raising Her Voice: Agency and Aspirations of Adolescent Girls on Marriage — Evidence from Jharkhand, India. New Delhi: International Center for Research on Women. Publication Rights The research reported in this publication has been conducted as part of the UMANG program. UMANG is being implemented by ICRW Asia, in partnership with SATHEE, Badlao Foundation and Project Concern International, in close association with the Government of Jharkhand, and with financial support from the IKEA Foundation. The facts and information in this report may be reproduced/quoted/cited only for non- commercial use and with appropriate attribution. RAISING HER VOICE Agency and Aspirations of Adolescent Girls on Marriage EVIDENCE FROM JHARKHAND, INDIA Pranita Achyut, Nalini V. Khurana, Hanimi Reddy, Abhishek Gautam and Ravi K. Verma 2 Contents Abbreviations 4 Introduction 5 Evaluation Design 7 Findings 9 Discussion 14 References 18 Annexure 19 Acknowledgements 30 3 Abbreviations CAPI: Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing ECFM: Early, child and forced marriage ICRW: International Center for Research on Women IIPS: International Institute for Population Sciences OBCs: Other Backward Castes OR: Odds Ratio PPS: Probability Proportional to Size SATHEE: Society for Advancement in Tribes, Health, Education and Environment SC: Scheduled Caste SDG: Sustainable Development Goal ST: Scheduled Tribe 4 Source: A scene from the film, Parvaaz | Flight, produced by ICRW and directed by Mixed Media Productions INTRODUCTION Early, child and forced marriage (ECFM) is a violation of a girl’s right to grow in a safe environment, receive education and realize her full potential. It compromises all efforts to overcome poverty, fight for gender equality, advance girls’ education and improve their overall health and well-being. Several studies strongly suggest that unequal gender norms provide social sanctions and justifications to sustain child marriage practices (Malhotra, Warner, McGonagale, & Lee-Rife, 2011; ICRW, 2008). Child marriage affects a girl’s health, in terms of maternal morbidity, mortality and nutritional status, and has an inter-generational impact on the survival and health of her children (Prakash, Singh, Pathak, & Parasuraman, 2011). ECFM is also linked to a higher probability of girls experiencing intimate partner violence, thereby making it less likely for them to seek and receive the necessary support (Speizer & Pearson, 2011). The status and consequences of ECFM are well recognized, globally and in India. According to a study conducted by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) across multiple countries, a girl’s education is the strongest predictor of the age at which she will marry (Jain & Kurz, 2006).1 Reducing child marriage is a direct target of Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 (SDG 5.3) and it is linked with the achievement of at least eight of the 17 SDGs.2 At the national level, India already has legislation 1Countries included in the analysis are Niger, Chad, Bangladesh, Mali, Guinea, Central African Republic, Nepal, Mozambique, Uganda, Burkina Faso, India, Ethiopia, Liberia, Cameroon, Malawi, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Zambia. 2Goal 1: No poverty, Goal 2: Zero hunger, Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing; Goal 4: Inclusive and quality education, Goal 5: Gender equality, Goal 8: Economic growth, Goal 10: Reduce inequalities, and Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions. 5 prohibiting child marriage as well as multiple programs and schemes to address the issue. Although the prevalence of child marriage has declined, still one out of every four women in the country (aged 20-24 years) were married off before the age of 18 (IIPS and ICF, 2017). This proportion is much higher in the state of Jharkhand (38 percent), particularly in the districts of Godda (63 percent) and Jamtara (44 percent). To reduce the prevalence of child marriage, ICRW has conceptualized a comprehensive multi-layered girls’ empowerment program called UMANG. The program is being implemented by ICRW in partnership with SATHEE, Badlao Foundation and Project Concern International, and in close association with the Government of Jharkhand. UMANG is being executed with financial support from the IKEA Foundation. The program will reach around 200,000 adolescent girls, men and boys, and community members from four blocks of Godda and Jamtara districts over the four-year program period. UMANG uses a socio-ecological framework and gender-transformative approaches. It involves multi- layered intervention at individual (adolescent girls), family (parents, brothers/husbands), and community level (men and boys, women, and other community members). The program also works with systems and institutions such as schools, local governance structures, child protection mechanisms, and education and health departments to bring policy and normative shifts. The socio-ecological approach ensures that while adolescent girls are placed at the center of the program, a broader enabling environment for their empowerment is created through engagement across the aforementioned levels. This research report presents findings from the UMANG program’s baseline survey on marriage practices among adolescent girls aged 15-18 years, and their aspirations and role in decision-making with respect to their marriage. The report also identifies risk and protective factors for ECFM and discusses programmatic implications of the same. Key Findings Among girls aged 15-18 years, 11 percent were married and marriage was fixed for another 12 percent. Out-of-school girls are 3.4 times more likely to be married or have their marriage fixed than girls still attending school. Among married girls, the average age at marriage was 16 years, approximately two years earlier than when they would have liked to marry. Among unmarried girls, the desired mean age at marriage is 20 years. However, given their current situation, they thought they will get married a year before their desired age. Most unmarried girls perceived that they have little say in marriage-related matters and decisions, particularly with respect to the timing (86 percent) and choice of partner (87 percent). Overall, 82 percent of girls opined that their father is the main decision-maker on matters of marriage. Most girls (80 percent) recognized the negative implications of early marriage, and supported the need for attaining education and achieving career aspirations before marriage. However, only 43 percent agreed that it is appropriate for girls to express dissent if they do not like their parents’ choice of partner. When asked to rank education, marriage, physical safety and employment in order of priority for their daughters, parents ranked higher education as a priority over the other three options. At the same time, only 30 percent of parents opined that girls should pursue education up till graduation or above. About 62 percent of parents felt that if a girl wants to marry a boy of her choice, the family should allow her to marry him. However, 92 percent of parents preferred that their own daughter(s) should marry a boy of their/ family’s choice. Girls’ school-going status, parents’ education and occupation, caste, religion, and place of residence have varying linkages to girls’ marital status, age at marriage and decision-making related to marriage. 6 Source: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/ Images of Empowerment EVALUATION DESIGN To assess the key outcome indicators related to girls’ empowerment and child marriage, UMANG uses a two-arm (intervention and control) quasi-experimental evaluation design, with baseline and endline data collection. The intervention arm includes four blocks — Mahagama and Godda blocks of Godda district, and Nala and Jamtara blocks of Jamtara district. Program interventions are being implemented in these blocks as part of an integrated approach. Barharwa and Barhait blocks of Sahibganj district have been selected for the control arm, based on their socio-economic and demographic profiles. The baseline survey was conducted with adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years and 15-18 years), boys and men (aged 12-21 years), and parents (mothers or fathers) of adolescent girls (aged 10-18 years). A sample size of 400 was estimated for each group to measure the outcome indicators separately for each respondent category (girls aged 10-14 years and 15-18 years, boys and men, and parents) at the block level. A two-staged stratified systematic random sampling technique was used for selecting eligible respondents (refer to the Annexure for details on sample size and sampling technique). 7 Overall, more than 8,000 adolescent